U11 & U12 Coaching Manual PDF

U11 & U12  Coaching Manual PDF

The transition from the Rec soccer program in the 2nd and 3rd grade to the U11 game can be challenging for the players, parents and coaches.

Also the transition from the smaller side U11 game (8v8) to the larger game that is played in U12division is a challenge.

Special care is needed with players (and their families) during these transitions to make sure they have proper support and information to achieve success.

The players are becoming more physically mature, developing better skills and the game begins to look more like “real soccer”.

However, it is important to remember that the players are not little adults and should not be expected to perform physically or mentally as one.

Player drop out and player burn out is see increasingly in this age group if too much is expected to soon of the young player.

This manual is designed on the principle of “fit the activity to the child....not the child to the activity”.

This is why we have given you insight into the developmental stage that you are coaching.

The 4th grader just starting in the U11 program developmentally is not ready to understand, or perform, some of the team tactical concepts that a 6th grader in the U12 program would be ready to develop.

To expect them to be able perform outside of their developmental abilities will not only be frustrating for you as a coach but for the child as well.

Frustration and not feeling efficiently skilled are major reasons that children drop out of sports at this age.

While the U12 player is ready for tactical training the coach shouldn’t overload the players with too much tactics and the players are still in need of technical practice of both individual and partner skills.

Our goals should be to improve the technical abilities of all our players, continue to allow the players the freedom to discover the game, foster a love of the game and above all want to play the following season.

Our hope is that this manual will give you some tools to make structuring your practices easier and give you a template for progressive player development.

At the end of this manual is a list of resources that could be helpful to you as a coach.

It includes websites that have more information about the best practices of coaching and player development, as well as sites that have more ideas for drills and games and videos that show how skills should be performed.

To download click here